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The answers already given pretty much cover why an author would choose to go exclusive with Amazon: KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited being the big ones. In order to do any sort of promotion through Amazon you have to be exclusive with them. Authors can, and some do, remain exclusive for only a limited period in order to take advantage of KDP Select, and then publish more widely, but Amazon counts on many authors staying exclusive with them for the convenience of ongoing promotional options. It all boils down to there being no argument but that Amazon is the biggest re-seller, and so if you want sales then Amazon is the one you want to appease.
This particular author never went exclusive with Amazon because he has a prejudice against monopolies. Amazon are going to take notice of my quiet protest... any day now... I'm sure they will... It's going to happen... I'm still waiting...
Seriously though, an author is either silly or lazy not to deal with Amazon on their terms because that is by far the biggest market for most genre fiction. Smashwords is a great resource for authors like myself that want to be able to reach outlets like Barnes and Noble (still the next best option after Amazon according to my very limited experience), and libraries and so on, but any author/publisher that ignores Amazon will suffer the consequences.
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